English · if indeed / careless / temporary / surname Gou
Cached lesson
1 / 1
Topology:Top-bottom
Strokes:8
Writing Balance Rule: The top grass radical (艹) should spread evenly across the upper width, while the lower body (句) sits squarely beneath it with a strong final vertical hook.
to live in temporary ease; to be content with a makeshift situation
苟富贵，无相忘
gǒu fù guì, wú xiāng wàng
if indeed we become wealthy and noble, let us not forget one another
2. Sound
/[koʊ̯²¹⁴]/Tone: 214
苟
gǒugou3
|
++
ˇ(214)
=gǒu
Build the syllable
Step-by-step blending
gou
Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "o" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).
Initial Consonant
g
Type: Unaspirated Velar
Sounds like: g sound as in 'go'
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: No burst of air (sounds like 'c' in Vietnamese 'cá' or 'k' in English 'skate').
Tongue & Mouth Position: Back of the tongue raises to touch the soft palate (velum), releasing cleanly without a burst of breath.
Final Rhyme
ou
Vowel Group: -o vowel group
Sounds like: -ou rhymes with 'oh' or 'go'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'oh'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T3 (214)
2 → 1 → 4 (214)
3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 dips low and rises, mirroring an incredulous 'Really?' in English conversation.
Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 3, it dips to Tone 2 (rising 35) according to standard Mandarin third tone sandhi rules.
👂
Listening trap: Confusing the low dipping Tone 3 with Tone 4 if clipped too short; ensure you capture the full dip and rise.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: start medium-high, drop down low into your chest, and rise back up to mid-height.
3. Writing
Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 8 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The top grass radical (艹) should spread evenly across the upper width, while the lower body (句) sits squarely beneath it with a strong final vertical hook.
4. Components
Radical艹 · Grass Radical (plants, vegetation)
Semantic Clue (形旁):艹 (Provides the upper shape category)
Phonetic Clue (声旁):句 (original sound: gòu / jù)
The grass radical (艹) sits on top of the character 'sentence/phrase' (句), combining to form the literary conditional word '苟'.
艹 Grass radical at the top
句 Phonetic and structural base meaning sentence or clause
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
16· Phonetic Root: 句 (gōu)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Originally combined the grass radical to suggest vegetation or a light, makeshift growth, phoneticized by 句.
Semantic Evolution: Shifted from concrete botanical references in early classical texts to abstract conditional grammar particles ('if indeed') and ethical concepts like carelessness (苟且).
Frequently encountered in classical Chinese philosophy and idioms.
Also widely used as a Chinese family name (Gǒu).
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
cẩu
Corresponds to the Vietnamese hỏi tone or similar dipping pitch contours.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: コウ (kō) / Kun: l-i
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
구
Sound Shift Bridge: Shared ancient Chinese rime groups connect 'gǒu' to cognates across East Asian linguistic strata.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
Underneath the patch of grass (艹), a single sentence (句) whispers a careless (苟) 'if' that changes everything.